Nick_A:
You still don't get it. Great minds like Einstein, Spinoza, and Simone were well aware of the corruption of religion. Yet they knew and some like Jacob Needleman still know that Secularism that glorifies itself is futile for serving the needs of the heart which is drawn to higher consciousness.
In typical form you throw out the names of your favorite list of characters instead of discussing the specifics of what was said by a specific person.
Spinoza was not talking about the corruption of religion. When he says that the salutary role of religion is undermined by sectarianism he is talking about when those like you:
begin to regard themselves as special, disparaging and persecuting other groups ...
You may deny it but that is what your claims about "authentic religion" is about.
Spinoza goes on to talk about a universal or public or civil religion, a religion of, in your terms, the Great Beast.
In line with this your rants would not be tolerated. You would be suppressed by the State, the Great Beast.
In addition, your claims of higher consciousness and transcendent realities are incompatible with Spinoza’s concept of God and man and philosophy. His God is completely impersonal and does not serve the needs of the heart.
This is why you and those like fooloso4 will never open to scripture. You read esoteric ideas with the literal mind but scripture isn't historical, it is psychological. Its purpose is to touch the deepr mind that the literal mind blocks.
This is funny. You post something from scripture to defend your never ending divisiveness, I respond by discussing the passage in context, and you fall silent on the matter. Your “esoteric” reading ignores the text. Is this what you imagine what it means to be open to scripture, to ignore what is says and impose an interpretation that does not fit?
Greta:
Someone who says "snowflakes" chides others about conformity
Ain’t that the truth! It’s like a highly contagious conservative virus. A sure sign that he has been infected, indoctrinated, and controlled by the collective (Great Beast) run by Rupert Murdoch (Fox and others), the Mercers (Breitbart), Sinclair Broadcast (for anyone who is not familiar with them you would be surprised and disturbed). A victim of InfoWars.
Lacewing, nice to see you. Another refugee from OPC. Were you too banned like Nick and Harbal because of secular intolerance?